Normblog and the composers

Norm has just posted his results from the classical composers blogpoll (unfortunately abbreviated in his post title archive to "The Great Compo," which suggests an entirely different type of poll... best "Last of the Summer Wine" character anyone?)

Beethoven, Mozart and Bach are the top three by a long chalk (or should that be baton?), with Schubert a clear "4th" - though Norm makes some interesting deductions about Schubert's status given the closeness between the top three and then subsequently numbers 5 to 11. Just 10 points separated Chopin, Wagner, Mahler, Brahms, Haydn, Handel and Shostakovich.

Blogging at the weekend: comment on the Tory Billboard

Felt compelled to blog and write a letter to the Guardian today. Following my previous comments on Beeston's Tory billboard ("It's not racist to impose limits on immigration"), imagine the fury I felt to see the Guardian today using a photograph of that same billboard as part of an article on middle-England's racism and turn against Labour (Sorry: the online version doesn't have the pictures but you know what I'm on about).

How I wish I had been able to take a photograph of the board when the "Bullshit" comment was on it - and what a shame the Guardian didn't get its image during that period. I'm not saying that the area of Broxtowe doesn't have some residents with offensive views, but the article tarnishes us all with the same ideology. And THAT is truly offensive.

Blogger comments for Counago & Spaves

Every now and then the Blogger system has a bit of a wibble. For example, I just tried to add a comment on John's blogpost at Counago&Spaves about pink kitchens but the system failed completely. I too despair of the pink female brigade: purple, I get, but not pink! The living room Cloud and I have has a red chimney breast with walls that are orange for the top half and blue on the lower half... trust us, it is a lot more appealing than it sounds (if I was blogger-picture enabled I would post a pic!)

Sociology lecturer or not, it can be tough going to avoid slipping into cliched stereotyping. But John is right - a pink kitchen is an unforgiveable culmination to a well-marshalled building project.

A lack of concentration

Due to my gammy leg from my fall on Monday (which makes me crankier than usual); heavy workload (covering for colleagues and general pre-Easter essay stresses from students); the demands of trying to get some reasonable essay completed on time for the ChickFlicks project; and my major disappointment that we will not be getting up to Aberdeen over Easter to see George (sniff!)... I am hearby informing my readers that for the next three weeks posts could be somewhat erratic.

Sorry, but that's the way it is. This is not say that there won't be any number of random posts appear over the next few weeks, but that I can't guarantee my blog presence.

If you're really unlucky I'll be reduced to delivering my seen/unseen remarks on the remaining films from the Ultimate Film List I have been ploughing through since the dawn of time.

Book recommendation

Courtesy of our friends at Counago&Spaves, who just had their blog's first birthday, this looks like a good investment. As part of our book collection, Cloud and I have a number of texts on the Wobblies et al, so this would certainly make a good addition. But if you're feeling generous, get it for John at C&S: he deserves it.

True life signage

Tree surgeon company Grant Brothers (as seen in Nottingham). Sign on back of truck:

Branches everywhere

I kid you not...

Joke: courtesy of Rita

A rabbi was opening his mail one morning. Taking a single sheet of paper from an envelope he found written on it only one word:

"shmuck."

At the next Friday night service, the Rabbi announced, "I have known many people who have written letters and forgot to sign their names, but this week I received a letter from someone who signed his name...and forgot to write a letter."

Sorry that made me laugh

Radio Times

For those who share my interest in boys from Paisley such as this one, here's another for your delight: check out current issue just published of Radio Times [apologies that link will only last till next Monday].

International Women's Day

Hak Mao, as so often, hits the spot with this comment on International Women's Day. We still need it, whatever the Sweepies might say about "come the revolution, sisters, all will be solved..."

Commentary: the Miner's Strike 20 years on

Sorry I missed posting on this yesterday but I had a collision with a desk down some steps and had taken on a colleague's workload in their absence (in other words - a bit bizzybaksun).

John over at Counago&Spaves writes eloquently about his response then, and now, to the Miners Strike... a very potent topic for me as a Nottingham girl who was in her 6th form years during the strike. A I have often said to my friends, my political position is that of a leftist Labour supporter of a Labour party that has unfortunately never really existed.

But the problem for us was never the old left project, it was the failure of the old left politicians to think outside the box, stop acting like dinosaurs, and think strategically instead of proprietorially or dictatorially. There was a level of machismo and slow wittedness (and a pride in both) that might be difficult to believe today, as though they thought brute force (in the form of 'solidarity,' but demanded, imposed, and controlled from on high) would guarantee victory.

I felt this summed up the emotions I felt quite well, and I would certainly urge similar-minded readers to read the C&S blog.

Fight Club as Calvin and Hobbes

Sure this must have done the rounds before, but a message on the H-Film net discussion pages brought this to my attention. As one of my favourite films, I had to include a blog to it.

Cola Troll - a fine (enough) movie

Over the weekend, on failing to get out of Stapleford - some kind of Truman Show thang where all this traffic suddenly appeared and we couldn't get out of our estate - Cloud and myself instead decided to borrow Collateral from the local DVD store. Beautifully shot, some fine performances, and - even if the last 30 mins were predictably thriller-by-numbers - a very entertaining and thrilling thriller it was too. Given that Cruise can't play on his youthful athleticism forever (not as he does much for me anyway), it was nice to see his work diversifying somewhat. If you haven't seen it, we would definitely recommend it.

Talking of David Strathairn

Ah, bless him. David Strathairn has been in some cracking movies. He's been in movies by John Sayles (seven times no less, including the glorious Eight Men Out) and, of course, he played Pierce Morehouse Patchett in LA Confidential. In that role he is forever ingrained into the minds of Helen Lisette and myself, not least because when we were in New York for the 2001 Oscars, me and HLW had a bit of a brainblock and couldn't recall the poor actor's name --- just that he had played PMP. There we were, slightly jetlagged still, stumbling over TV channels one late night and finding a made-for-TV production about gangsters in which he was a minor player. "That's erm... Pierce Patchett! Erm... what's his face! ARGH!" At which point we put on coats on top of our nightclothes, ran down stairs, paid a well useful dollar note into the internet-connected computer in the Herald Square Hotel lobby and gleefully used IMDB to retrieve the name of David Strathairn. Needless to say, we have never since forgotten his name!

Sneakers: a fun movie, a great line

Over the weekend, Sneakers was screened. Now we have a lot of time for this movie in the Cloud and Rullsenberg household, not least for this classic exchange:

[Bernard Abbott, played by 'voice-of-Darth Vader' James Earl Jones, plays the role of an NSA chief desperate to get back a decryption chip. The group of sneakers - headed by Martin Bishop (Robert Redford) - make their demands, a series of requests already voiced as ideals when all they thought they would get would be $170,000 between them. Whistler, played by David Strathairn, makes the following request]

Whistler: I want peace on earth and good will toward man.
Bernard Abbott: Oh this is ridiculous.
Martin Bishop: He's serious.
Whistler: I want peace on earth and goodwill toward men.
Bernard Abbott: We're the United States Government! We don't deal with that sort of thing.

Hoot! Of course, any time Cloud and I hear the phrase "peace on earth" we HAVE to add "goodwill to all men" because Mulder knows the consequences of forgetting that!

Weeping for Five

Okay, I'm busted, I'm a softie. Last week it was Cloud who was pushing to watch Short Circuit, and this week it was mee sobbing over Short Circuit 2. I'm sorry, but since I can do a mean impression of Johnny Five ("Input, need more input Stephanie... Benjamin! Not disassemble!") I do get rather distressed at the attack on the poor thing. It's just plain mean.

So there.